Thai Ideas of Power The Challenge of Legitimacy in Contemporary Thailand (original) (raw)

Thailand four years after the coup: The struggle against the dissenters

After the 2006 coup d'état, there were many unusual incidents in Thailand, some of which involved considerable bloodshed, which originated from clashes between those in power and dissenters. This article examines how political institutions in Thailand are structured, and the author argues that, in order to effectively assess the state of Thai politics after the coup, an analysis of the structures of political legitimacy in the country is essential. The author will be exploring the way in which political legitimacy is generally determined by the established power holders, especially the monarchy and its allies. The ideologies and beliefs of recent dissenters will also be examined in detail.

The Irony of Democratization and the Decline of Royal Hegemony in Thailand

Southeast Asian Studies, 2016

I intend to approach the current decade-long political crisis in Thailand from two perspectives: power shift and cultural political hegemony. From a comparative historical point of view, the current crisis fits into a pattern of cyclical power shifts in modern Thai politics in which an initial opening/liberalization of the economy led to the emergence of a new class/social group, which in turn grew and rose to politically challenge the existing regime of the old elites and their allies. An extended period of political contest and turmoil ensued, with varying elements of radical transformation and setback, reaction and compromise, which usually ended in a measure of regime change. A remarkable feature of the ongoing power shift in Thailand is the ironic reversal of political stance and role of the established urban middle class, who have turned from the erstwhile vanguard democratizers of the previous power shift into latter-day anti-democratizers of the current one, with the globally dominant ideology of liberal democracy being torn asunder as a result. The preferred strategy of recent anti-democratic movements has been violent street politics and forceful anarchic mass occupation of key administrative, business, and transportation centers to bring about socioeconomic paralysis, virtual state failure, and government collapse. The aim is to create a condition of un-governability in the country that will allow the movement's leaders to exploit King Bhumibol's hardearned hegemonic position and the deep-seated constitutional ambiguity of the locus of sovereignty in Thailand's "Democratic Regime of Government with the King as Head of the State" so as to appeal to heaven for divine political intervention. This has inadvertently resulted in the increasing politicization of the monarchy and concomitant decline of royal hegemony as the symbolic ties between democracy and the monarchy in Thailand become unraveled. In this light, the latest coup by the NCPO military junta-on May 22, 2014-was a statist/bureaucratic politic attempt to salvage the cohesiveness of the Thai state apparatus in the face of the societally self-destructive, protracted political class conflict that has reached a stalemate and the aggravatingly vulnerable monarchy.

Thailand’s “Twilight of the Gods”: Understanding Thai Politics in the Interregnum

Ten years ago Thailand had a popular elected government operating under a publically-endorsed democratic constitution, a thriving economic model dubbed “Thaksinomics” that was being held up as an example for the Southeast Asian region, and had begun to implement historic welfare reforms. Since then the country has seen two military coups, intense political polarization, killings of pro-democracy protesters in the streets, frequent judicial interventions in politics, leading to today’s full-blown military dictatorship which rules by decree. What went wrong? In this talk I explain the reasons for this tumultuous period in Thailand’s politics, assess the strength of the current regime, and consider prospects for the county’s immediate future.

The Land of Forced Smiles: Military Rule in Thailand and its Discontents

2016

ince the military coup of 2014, Thais have been living under one of their most repressive regimes in decades. Various junta appointed bodies are currently working in accordance with a 'roadmap' they claim will restore democracy to the country -but what kind of democracy remains to be seen. This discussion paper places the recent coup in a historical context, arguing that it was a way for traditional elites to gain the upper hand in a decades-long struggle against elected politicians. With this in mind, it seems clear that the 'roadmap' and any constitution drafting overseen by the junta and their allies will actually be a way to reduce the power of elected politicians to the detriment of Thai democracy. The paper then turns its attention to those who opposed the coup, asking to what extent opposition to the junta has been possible in Thailand and what conditions might lead to a mass mobilisation against it.